Second Parent Adoption

Second Parent Adoption

30/1/19 Second Parent Adoption

In a second parent adoption case a child who already has one parent with parental rights is adopted by another parent, without terminating the existing parental rights.
In a second parent adoption, both the existing parent and the “second” parent will have legal guardianship and rights to the child.
There are a number of different situations in which second parent adoption can be used:

A child can be adopted by his or her step-parent with the consent of the existing legal parent or parents.

A second parent adoption can be used in order for one partner in a gay or lesbian couple to adopt the other partner’s child. For example, if a lesbian woman has a child through egg or sperm donation, then her partner may be able to adopt that child through second parent adoption.

A second parent adoption has a number of different steps involved, including an investigation into the fitness of the person petitioning for adoption to become the new adoptive parent of the child in question, as well as an in home study of the family’s current living conditions.
Second parent adoptions are becoming even more common in today’s world, however, and many courts have streamlined the process significantly.